A Human in Need
by SabaceanBabe
Summary: Post season four, John finds a package in his and Aeryn's quarters, just before he learns that Aeryn has been in an accident...


A Human in Need  
  
Spoilers through Bad Timing  
  
This is for the shippy challenge issued by Kargack  
  
Rating: G  
  
Disclaimer: The Farscape universe, and all that is in it, is not mine, but rather belongs to the Jim Henson Company. This is a work of fiction based in that universe. No copyright infringement is intended and no money has  
been or will be collected.  
  
John Crichton woke with a start. He had been dreaming, he thought, but he couldn't recall about what. Unsure what had awakened him, he took stock of his surroundings.  
  
All seemed well... Moya's little sounds were nothing out of the ordinary. He was in bed fully clothed, which was a little odd, but he vaguely remembered Aeryn removing his boots for him. Apparently, she had also pulled up the coverlet before she and Chiana had gone. The lights to the stereo were on, indicating that the music he had been playing had stopped sometime while he slept – he supposed the absence of the music might've done it. The baby wasn't anywhere to be seen, but that was alright. Livvy had been cranky – what John's mother would've called "colicky" – during the last sleep cycle. It had been John's turn to sit up with her and, when she had finally succumbed to exhaustion, D'Argo had volunteered to take her for a few arns so John could get some sleep.  
  
Ah, well. He was awake now. He sat up, threw off the coverlet, and plunked his feet down on the floor, in the process kicking one of his boots under the bed. Frell. He ran his hands vigorously over his face in an attempt to wipe away the cobwebs. Once that was done, with no noticeable effect on his wakefulness, he shook his head sharply from one shoulder to the other. Oh, yeah. That pop helped a little.  
  
Stretching, he pushed himself up from the bed, then dropped to his knees, reaching under it for his other boot. He really should go get some coffee and see if D was doing okay with the little rodent. While he was reaching for the boot, which was just barely in reach to begin with, the arm that was supporting his weight slipped and he managed to shove the offending boot even further under the bed. Right out of reach.  
  
With a sigh, John got to his feet and gave the whole bed a shove, moving it a couple of feet over, far enough to grab his boot. When he reached under the bed for the boot, though, his hand instead encountered what felt like a box. He popped his head down to peak under the bed again and saw a cheerfully wrapped Christmas package next to his boot.  
  
He pulled both of them out and sat on the bed to put on his boots. Once that task was done, he checked out the red and green foil wrapped box. Next to the gold bow was a tag with his name on it in Aeryn's strong handwriting. He smiled. The sucker must've been under the bed for about a cycle, just waiting for him to find it. She had never mentioned losing one of his gifts, though, so maybe she was planning on starting a new tradition on Moya...  
  
"John! Get to the hangar, immediately!" D'Argo's voice over the comms was urgent and brought John to his feet, his heart in his throat. There was fear in the big guy's voice. He slammed his palm hard on the door controls and ran from the room.  
  
***  
  
John ran headlong into the hangar, spotting D'Argo standing next to Lo'La. The Luxan's ship was clearly, audibly geared up for flight.  
  
"What's wrong?" John asked, skidding to a stop next to the ship.  
  
"Get in."  
  
"Not until you tell me what's wrong."  
  
D'Argo's response was to grab John's arm and shove him onto the ship. "It's Aeryn. There was a collision. We're going down to the surface."  
  
"Is she—?" John couldn't finish the question. He suddenly felt light-headed and thought he might throw up.  
  
"She's alive. Chiana said the locals took her to their medical center." D'Argo gave his friend another shove, this one more gentle. John took the hint and sat in the co-pilot's chair as D'Argo closed the hatch and strapped himself into the pilot's seat. He reached up to flip a couple of switches as he spoke into his comms. "Pilot, are we cleared for approach?"  
  
"Yes, Captain D'Argo. Your approach is cleared. There will be a transport waiting to take you to the medical facilities."  
  
John felt numb. They wouldn't be rushing this way, D'Argo wouldn't have hesitated to tell him anything unless it was serious. A collision he had said. "What happened, D'Argo? Aeryn's too a good a pilot to have been in a collision, even in something as graceless as a transport pod."  
  
"Apparently, the local police were chasing a fugitive. According to Chiana, Aeryn had received clearance to land and was in her final approach when a ship hit them almost head on."  
  
"Head on? Huh uh. No way. Aeryn would've seen 'em and gotten outta the way."  
  
"I said almost head on. Chiana said neither of them saw the ship. It impacted on the pilot's side of the transport, just behind the viewport."  
  
"Nothing was on sensors?" John couldn't believe this was happening. "I know it's not much more than a minivan, but they should've been able to pick up something."  
  
"I don't have any more details, John. We'll have to wait until we get there."  
  
"How long?" John closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the chair. His eyes felt hot.  
  
"We should be landing in less than a hundred microts."  
  
While D'Argo went through the landing sequence, John became aware that he still held the Christmas gift in his hands. He opened his eyes and stared at the bright package until it blurred, wavering in his suddenly drowning vision. He didn't feel the tears as they began to track down his face.  
  
***  
  
"God, please, don't let her die." Not much of a prayer, but the whispered words were all John could muster as watched over Aeryn Sun, so still in the hospital bed. Her black hair was splayed loose on the pillow. Her pale skin was marred by scratches and an enormous purple and blue bruise that covered the entire left side of her head. It surprised him that there was no bandage, considering it was the head wound that had left her in this coma.  
  
He brought his head back down to rest on his crossed arms, which were, in turn, resting on the back of the chair he straddled. The only sounds in the room were those of the machines as they monitored Aeryn's condition. The only movement was that of her chest, slowly rising and falling with each breath.  
  
"Well, it looks like you'll be able to get some sleep, after all," Aeryn said as she shrugged into her long leather coat, the red lining flashing as she pulled it around her. Her pulse pistol had long since been strapped onto her thigh.  
  
"Oh?" Sleepy as he was, he wasn't firing on all cylinders, but he couldn't remember anything about a trip. She was clearly getting ready to leave, though.  
  
"You don't remember?" She smiled a little. "Chiana and I are going down to the surface to pick up the things Jool needs for her dig."  
  
"Jool's dig...? Oh, yeah! Sorry, babe, guess I'm not all here."  
  
"Obviously." She gave him a shove, pushing him onto his back on the bed.  
  
"And here I thought you were leaving," he smirked, trying to grab her hand and pull her down on top of him. "I guess you need something from me before you go, huh?"  
  
She nimbly evaded his hand, instead crouching down to unfasten his boots. "No offense, human, but what could I possibly need from you?"  
  
He lifted his head up from the bed, looking down the length of his body to see Aeryn's gray eyes crinkling at the corners from the smile that must be covering the lower half of her face. He couldn't see that, though, since only the top half was visible from this vantage.  
  
Giving up, he flopped back down on the bed as she pulled his boots off and grabbed his ankles, swinging his legs up onto the bed. He scooched up to help her a bit. Damn, but he was tired. Livvy had kept him up for four solid arns with her crying. That on top of more than 20 arns awake, doing grunt-work for Jool down on Arnessk.  
  
He had fallen asleep before Aeryn had finished settling him into their bed.  
  
That had been the last time John had seen her. It had been...what? Five or six arns ago? The doctors weren't sure how long it would be before she woke, if she woke at all. There had been a lot of internal damage, but they were uncertain whether or not her paraphoral nerve had been involved. He supposed they were lucky that they even knew about the Sebacean paraphoral nerve at all – the planet was kind of a backwater.  
  
The sight of the package he had inadvertently brought with him from Moya caught his eye as he looked around the depressing little hospital room. Swinging his leg over the chair, he got up to retrieve the package. Anything to provide a distraction. He hated hospitals with a passion.  
  
With a glance over at Aeryn's still face, he lifted the box and tore off the paper. The now-unwrapped box in hand, he went back over to his chair, flipped it around so that it was facing the bed, and sat. Inside the box was, of all things, a t-shirt. A gray t-shirt. He pulled it out of the box and shook it out. A small laugh escaped him. "Property of Aeryn Sun." Again, he looked over at his wife. "That I am." He swallowed, suddenly feeling choked up again.  
  
He shrugged off his vest and pulled the black shirt he had been wearing over his head, replacing it with the new one. Of course, it was a perfect fit.  
  
Slipping off the chair and onto his knees, John took Aeryn's hand in one of his, the other stroking her space-black hair. Her hand seemed so uncharacteristically fragile. "Please don't leave me, Aeryn." His voice broke. "I need you."  
  
Because his eyes were closed, he missed it when hers fluttered open. Missed it when she slowly turned her head so that she could see him, his head bent over her hand. He didn't miss it, though, when she said, her voice weak, "No offense, human, but what could I possibly need from you?"  
  
His head jerked up and his eyes flew to her face. Her tentative smile was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen in his life. She looked like she was actually waiting for an answer to the question, even though it hadn't exactly followed what he himself had said.  
  
He leaned in close. "Just this," he said, as he carefully hugged her. 


End file.
